Vending-box.



No. 673,744. Patented may?, lem.

P. M. WIESTERFIELD (BYMARRIAVGE NOW P. M. CLAUS) &. F. W. CLAUS.,

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A liction lsd Aug. 8. 1900) oooooooo Nn Strnfrns PEARL M.

nTn'r OFFICE.

FREDERICK \V. CLAUS, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

VENDING-BOX.

SPEGFCATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 673,744, dated May 7,1901.

Application filed August 6, 1900. Serial No. 26,027. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom t may concern:

Be it known that we, PEARL M. TESTER- FIELD (by marriage now PEARL M.CLAUS) and FREDERICK W. CLAUS, citizens of the United States, residingat Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Vending-Boxes, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in vending-boxes of that class inwhich the lid is so attached to the box that it may be turned or foldedback against the sides or bottom of the box out of the way, so as toexpose the contents of the box without detachm ent therefrom.

The primary object of our invention is ,to have the lid'capable of beingfolded underneath the bottom of the box and there held by a suitableretaining` device while the conlents of the box are exposed, as in thecase of cigar-boxes, when placed in a show-case.

Another and important object of theinvention is to not only have the lidso attached to the box thatit can be folded underneath the same withoutdisconnection therefrom, but also to have it so attached that asealing-band or revenue-stamp, as in the case of a cigar box, need notbe broken at more than one and the usual place when the lid is raisedand turned or folded back underneath the box.

These and such other objects may hereinafter appear are attained by thedevices illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l isa perspective view of a vendingi box embodying our invention, showingthe lid folded underneath the box. Fig. 2 is a similar view, but showsthe lid partly turned back; and Fig. 3 is a transverse vertical sectionon dotted line 3 3 of Fig. l.

Similar letters of reference indicate the same parts in the severaliigures of the drawings.

Referring by letter to the accompanying drawings, A indicates a box, Bthe lid, and C the hinging-strip, by means of which the lid ispermanently attached to the box. In the drawings and for greaterclearness in explaining' the invention we have shown the box as anordinary cigar-box, our invention being peculiarly adapted forembodiment in such a box. It is necessary in practice to sell the cigarsdirectly from the box in which they are originally packed, a penaltybeing imposed for either the removal of the cigars from the box prior totheir sale or the removal of the revenue-stamp, which is pasted aroundthe outside of the box so as to seal the lid to the box at both thefront and rear edge thereof. Vith cigar-boxes as now ordinarilyconstructed, in which the lid is hinged at one side to the upper edge ofthe cigar-box, a great deal of space is occupied in show-cases, wherethe boxes are placed .with the lid raised, so as to expose the cigars tothe View of customers, and considerable inconvenience is experienced bythe vender in handling the boxes so arranged, while the lids of one rowof boxes serve to more or less obscure the cigars contained in the nextrow .of boxes. 'Ihe lids of such boxes cannot of course be foldedunderneath the box out of the way, nor can they be detached from thebox, because such action would destroy and remove a portion of therevenue-stamp which is pasted across the lid.

The object of our invention is to enable the lid to beiolded underneaththe bottom of the box, out of the way, without detachment from the boxand without removing any portion of the revenue-stamp from the box orlid and without breaking the revenue-stamp, except at the forward edgeof the box, in the usual place. This we accomplish by hinging the lid tothe box at a point substantially half-way the height of the box. Suchhinging may be done in many different Ways, either by means of thecontinuous strip C of linen, cotton, or other suitable fabric or by aseries of narrow strips, or, if desired, by regular andordinarily-constructed hinges of metal or other material, so long as thehinging-point is so disposed as to be substantially at the center ofheight of the box, so that the lid When folded back, as shown in Fig. 2,may drop down so as to be slung up and lie against the bottom of thebox, as illustrated in Figs. l and 3.

When the lid is folded underneath the bottom of the box, the hinge willof course serve to hold the hinged edge of the lid close against thebottom of the box, and for convenience in handling the box someretaining device ICO should be provided to hold the free edge of thelidagainst the bottom of the box, an ordinary spring-catch beingsuitable for this purpose. We prefer, however, and in the drawings haveshown a tape loop D, pasted or otherwise secured to the free edge of thelid, on either the inner or outer side thereof, which tape when the lidis folded underneath the bottom of the box is looped upon the box, whichit snugly fits, as plainly shown in Figs. l and 3, thus serving to holdthe lid against the bottom of the box. When the box is closed, the tapeis simply folded inside of the box,underneatli thelid. This tape'alsoserves as a means for displaying the name indicating the brand of cigarsand any other information, such as the name of the manufacturer, whichmay be stamped, imprinted, or otherwise applied directly to the tape,and the tape may be sufficiently broad to render the lettering plainlylegible. Furthermore,

a price-card E, or a card upon which the name of the brand of cigars andother information may be imprinted instead of upon .the tape, maybepasted or otherwise secured to the tape, so as to lie upon the top ofthe cigars in the box when the lid is folded back, the card in thedrawings being shown as provided with slits through which the tape isthreaded. Obviously any other commodity than cigars may be vended from abox embodying our invention, and the box may be of any suitable ordesired dimension and configuration,

according to the kind and quantity of the commodity to be vended fromeach box. A vending-box embodying our invention is practically as cheapto manufacture as the ordinary cigar-box, as the fancy label usuallyapplied to the inside of the lid, carrying the brand and any otherinformation, may be dispensed with and the tape or card, or both, besubstituted therefor.

Having described our invention, what we claim, and desire to secure byLetters Patent,

l. A vending-box comprising a lid hinged to the box at substantiallymidway the height thereof and adapted to be folded underneath the bottomof the box, and a retaining device for holding the free edge of the lidagainst the bottom of the box consisting o f a loop secured to the freeedge of the lid and adapted to be looped around the box and lid and alsoadapted to be Wholly contained within the box when the box is closed,substantially as described.

2. A vending-box comprising a lid hinged to the box, substantiallymidway the height thereof and adapted to be folded so as to lieunderneath the bottom of the box, a loop attached to the free edge ofthe lid and adapted to be looped around the box, and a card carried bysaid loop, substantially as described. i

3. A vending-box comprising a lid, a flexible hinging-strip attached tothe lid, and to the box substantially midway of the height thereof, anda retaining-loop wholly attached to the under side of the lid forholding the free edge of the lid against the bottom of the box,substantially as described.

PEARL M. WESTERFIELD. FREDERICK w. CLAUS.

Witnesses:

F. H. DRURY, J. E. HALLENBECK.

